Snow Princess
by Squirrel Stone
Summary: Mamoru has been working at the ice skating rink for quite some time now, but never before had he seen anything so surprising... First Season


I don't own Sailor Moon.

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><p>Mamoru laced up his work boots for the day, slipping a pair of black gloves on his hands, having learned long ago that it was best to have them. It was either that or risk his hands turning blue every evening.<p>

It was one of his various odd jobs he had, not because he needed extra money, but to keep himself humble. Sure, he rarely _acted_ humble, instead behaving like a cold, arrogant playboy, but he really was a kind and humble man. He loved children and appreciated life in and of itself.

He pulled the push broom from its usual place in the rack on the wall, pressing the bottom of it to the ground to commence sweeping the floor of the janitorial room. The room was relatively clean, everyone who had entered the room knowing how much they hated people leaving where they cleaned a mess and not wishing a harder job on Mamoru.

Once he had cleaned out the offices- the non-janitorial staff were almost worse about leaving trash around than people in the stands- he moved on to the reception area and entrance. This area somehow stayed clean for the most part, how Mamoru did not know. The store had been pre-swept and was now closed, a simple problem of security.

That meant he was headed down towards the ice rink next. He walked down the lengthy, slowly-declining slope, scanning the floor to make sure he had not missed anything. He had long ago stopped looking at the banners on the walls advertising the championships won there, as they rarely- if ever- changed.

He stepped through the doors, being met by a blast of arctic air. Once again, he was thankful for the gloves a coworker had gifted him on his first day there.

The rink on the left was first, as it had less carpet to sweep around the rink, which was pressed up against two walls. It was much easier to maneuver than the other rink, which had carpeting on all sides and an area sectioned off for one of the hockey teams to sit. Both had been smoothed out beforehand for the night, Taki the zamboni driver having smoothed the ice earlier that evening.

Mamoru swept across the bridge between the two rinks, and as he deposited the trash in the garbage bin, he saw a glint of gold out of the corner of his right eye. He turned and saw a girl skating backwards, her left skate crossing in front and to the outside of her right skate with every push.

Frustrated, Mamoru was about to walk up to the rink and scold the kid for her actions, only to recognize the girl as she made her way around the rink, her face being revealed as that of Tsukino Usagi. After that, he couldn't help but stop and stare at the girl. She seemed to be in her element out on the ice, the complete opposite of her usual self.

The girl lifted one foot behind her, grabbing the blade and gliding backwards for a moment before setting her foot down and leaning backwards slightly, her feet facing outwards and her heels facing each other in an outside spread eagle. Mamoru couldn't help but feel impressed. To perform a spread eagle, your body and bone structure had to be formed a certain way, and even then, it took months, or even years, of practice to perfect it as Usagi had.

Gradually, she turned backwards again before spinning around rapidly to face the front. She dug her right toe pick into the ice, sending her into the air. Mamoru watched as the blonde performed a triple axel, her hair twirling around her. Her landing was perfect, not a moment's hesitation before she leapt into a triple Lutz, once again resulting in a perfect landing. She kept her leg extended behind her as she glided back a few feet before turning to face the front and taking off like a rocket. She went at least three laps around the rink, all the while not noticing Mamoru, before she spun around backwards, digging her toe pick into the ice to perform another axel.

Mamoru watched as she completed, one, two, three, four and a half jumps before she came down, her left leg swinging from in front of her to behind her in a near-perfect landing- the first successful quadruple axel Mamoru had ever heard of.

Mamoru could not stop himself from clapping, and the blonde gasped, spinning around rapidly to face him, her extended leg only halfway down to the ground. This, of course, resulted in her losing her balance, her right leg sliding under her left as she crashed down to her right side.

Mamoru gasped, his eyes going wide as he undid the latch on the door. He rushed out onto the rink, ignoring the slipping and sliding caused by his street shoes. He stooped down in front of the fallen blonde, who was slowly starting to sit up, rubbing her head in pain.

Her right odango was now floppy and lopsided, and she had the beginnings of a bruise to the side of her eye and on her arm where she had attempted to prevent her head from hitting the ice. Thus, a bruise covered the inside of her arm, and a bloody scrape covered the outside.

"Ow..." the blonde groaned.

"Odango Atama, are you okay?" Mamoru asked as the blonde went to cradling her injured arm.

"I-I'm fine..." It took a moment for her to decide on the fact. "Just a little banged up. What are you doing here, Mamoru-baka?"

Mamoru was taken aback. He was trying to help her, and she was snapping at him. "I was just trying to help, Odango," he explained. "Have you ever tried being thankful?"

"Thankful?" Usagi asked. "If it wasn't for you, I wouldn't be in this mess!"

"What are you doing at the rink, anyway?" Mamoru demanded. "No one's allowed here after hours."

"That's none of your business, jerk," she said, getting to her feet and revealing her scratched up right leg. Mamoru got to his feet as well, ready to help the bunny despite her insults.

Mamoru looked the girl over and was shocked by what he saw. The blonde was wearing a silver and white 'twirl girl' outfit, as he had heard the hockey players call it. The leotard itself was a pure, snow white, but the skirt was a misty silver fabric that looked like it was made of silk. On the back was a golden bow that connected the skirt and leotard together, much like the uniform of the sailor senshi. Her arms were covered by sheer, white sleeves, and Usagi's pale skin made the sleeves impossible to detect from afar, but the scraping on her right arm penetrated the shield. Her upper back was bared as well, hidden only by the sheer white material.

"Come on, there's some antiseptic in the break room," Mamoru offered, getting to his feet and leading Usagi off the ice, the blonde objecting all the way.

"I don't need antiseptic!" Usagi objected. "I'll be fine."

"That ice is a lot dirtier than it looks, Odango," Mamoru claimed. "I don't want it getting infected."

"And why not?" Usagi asked as they made it into the break room. "I thought you'd _want_ me to get some horrible infection and die."

"And why would I want that?" Mamoru asked, pulling out the first aid kit. "It's too much fun to mess with you."

Usagi rolled her eyes as Mamoru pulled back the remains of her right sleeve. "Sorry about your uniform," Mamoru apologized, knowing the outfit was just about ruined.

"It's no big deal," Usagi said, knowing the uniform was much like her senshi uniform: it would fix itself. "I can always get a new outfit."

"So why haven't I seen you around here?" Mamoru asked as Usagi let out a hiss of pain from the antiseptic. "You're a fantastic skater; I don't think anyone's landed a quadruple axel before."

"That's why I don't come here," Usagi explained. "I'm not very big on the spotlight."

Mamoru let out a dry laugh. "Says the girl who wails when she scrapes her knee," he smirked.

Usagi let out a small laugh as well. "I don't recall wailing when this happened to my arm and leg," she reminded him.

"You were uncharacteristically quiet," he realized. He let out a small 'hm' sound. "Well, it seems you are quite the mystery, Tsukino Usagi."

"Is that a compliment or an insult?" Usagi asked, raising an eyebrow as Mamoru wrapped her arm.

"Neither- just an observation," Mamoru told her, moving on to put antiseptic on her leg. "Do you have street shoes here?"

"Yeah, they're down by the rink," Usagi confirmed. "I can go get them and leave once this is done."

"I'll drive you home," Mamoru offered.

Usagi let out a small laugh, as if she knew something Mamoru didn't. "I don't think my father would appreciate that," she smiled mischievously. "I don't live that far from here. I can just walk."

"Are you sure?" Mamoru asked. Even though it was summer, theTokyoair could get a bit nippy at night.

"I'm positive," Usagi nodded as Mamoru wrapped her leg.

"Okay," was all Mamoru could say as he applied the fastenings to Usagi's bandages. "I'll walk you down to the rink."

"Thanks," Usagi smiled up at the man. "I'd like that."

As they walked down the slope yet again to get to the rink, Mamoru spoke. "You know, you never did tell me how you got in here."

Usagi only smiled. "I have my ways."

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><p>Yay! Sweet UsaMamo oneshot that fits in with the season one canon. I'm thinking about writing more of these little oneshots between many couples in the Sailor Moon world, so be on the lookout!<p>

Please review!

PS: This site is starting to die off **_because people aren't reviewing_**. Do you have any idea how discouraging it is to receive only one or two reviews for something you spent days working on? And I'm not just talking about myself. I've made a new policy that if I read something, I will review, even if it's only a short little 'nice job'. It gives the author a confidence boost and makes them smile.

On that note, Merry late Christmas/ongoing Hanukkah/Kwanzaa!

Squirrel


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